Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Turns out that it takes more than a desk job to get me to post. Without reliable Internet that I can get my filthy hands on, my feedreader lies barren. Read ten times as much as you write.....so on so forth, very good, right away. Anyway if I seem horrible out of touch with some meme or trend that's going on, it's because I am. And yes, I know that Pavarotti died.

Once many moons ago, a compatriot of mine and I were admonished by a comic book store owner for discussing Foghat, stating we were clearly too young to have any idea what we were talking about. Thus discussing Zeppelin is probably way out of my jurisdiction, but I'll do it anyway.

I'm an admitted addict of metal rumor site Blabbermouth (NSFW, probable word salad), and a little over a week ago they did their usual rumouring thing about, of all things, a Zeppelin reunion hit. No one else was talking about it at the time, so I figured it weren't happening. The annals of history are scattered with so many warmed-over Zeppelin half reunions I figured Jimmy Page was just commandeering another band.

But then just today, sure enough, the damn thing is going to go down. (And finally with obvious choice Jason Bonham in the drum chair, no less) But is this anything to be excited about? It's one gig by a band that hasn't played together for at least 19 years, if our last point of reference is the 1988 hit for Atlantic Records 40th anniversary.

It's definitely a gambit considering how defensive Zeppelin has been about their legacy. One of the reasons that there are so many assholes wearing that freakin' 1977 tour t-shirt is that getting to see the live Zep (many say the true Zep) was only available by actually getting to a show. I'll invoke the Rolling Stones since they're really the only apt comparison, but everyone has seen the Stones live. For a stretch in the 90s every other Stones album was a live recording, whereas live footage of Zeppelin totals less than six hours. However ultimately the Stones have had the advantage of playing together for the last million years and it's even starting to show. A Bigger Bang was their best album since Tattoo You, easily.

Of course I've never took the whole Zeppelin/Jimmy Page black magick thing very seriously. Everyone already knows the best bands are affiliated with Satan. I certainly hope some of the more musicologically minded of you out their have heard of the 33 1/3 series, and in between the rumor and realization of the Zeppelin reunion I picked up the volume on Zeppelin IV. (Or Zoso, or Runes, or whatever you want to call it, asshole.) I only read the introduction and already find the author willing to take Zeppelin far more seriously than I am willing to. Perhaps the best way to academically discuss their Tolkien-laced posturing is by taking it entirely at face value. Either way, I decided to put it aside in favor of less recreational reading, but will report back upon finishing it.